


The Normal Curve

by luckycharm



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Friendship, Friendship/Love, M/M, Manipulation, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-05-18 12:34:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5928492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckycharm/pseuds/luckycharm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jude reflects on how he got to where he is, in life, and all the curves and swerves along the way.<br/>WARNING: INCOMPLETE WORK.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Curveball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jude meets Zero.

Growing up, Oscar was this enigma. He was larger than life, and yet, farther than Jude's reach. In Jude's tiny little life, in that tiny apartment, with his mom struggling to provide for them, because she didn’t want Jude raised on that ‘tainted money’, when the taunts of the bullies from school got too much, when there was no one to talk to, Jude would look in the mirror, and whisper to himself, “I am Oscar Kinkade’s son.”

And he’d let it be.

He would catch Oscar on-screen, when they interviewed the Devil's. His mom would quietly walk by and change the channel, and Jude would look at her tired face, and he’d let it be.

Nothing around him, nothing inside him, changed that fact. Jude was Oscar Kinkade’s son. And that was enough. That was more than enough, that was....everything.

So, Jude let it be.

***

The year that Jude's mom passed away replayed in his mind often. He remembers how excited he had been to share the news that he got accepted as a junior agent at a major sports agency, and how disappointed she had looked. It was as if Jude was becoming her worst fear, right in front of her eyes. Jude was becoming Oscar Kinkade.

Jude remembered the heated arguments, the pleas to reconsider. He remembered telling her that he’d made up his mind and that nothing would change that. He remembered her not telling him she was sick. He remembered moving away, pitying his mother for not having any ambition in life, for not taking what was hers. For letting it be. He remembered vowing to never be like her.

Jude remembers getting the call that she was in the hospital. He remembers flying back, trying to rush to her side. He remembers being too late.

Yeah, Jude remembers vividly the year his mom died.

***

It was almost a year after his mom’s passing, and they still referred to Jude, as “the kid” at the agency. No one knew him, and no one cared that his last name was Kinkade. One guy asked Jude if he was really Oscar’s son, and beaming, Jude had told him, he was. He then asked Jude, laughingly, what he was doing serving cold coffee for a living, if he was really his son. Jude didn’t have an answer to that. He kept thinking how his mom was right, how right she was about Jude. He would never make it in this world. He may be Oscar Kinkade’s son but, to the world, he was invisible.

Jude was put in charge of making sure that the refreshments were as requested for a very important meeting they had finally secured. They were going to try to recruit an up-and-coming basketball player. His name was Zero. Jude knew of him, and always thought how ridiculously narcissistic a guy must have to be, to give himself his own nickname, and adopt it as the name to go by. Like, Cher, Madonna....Zero. Who the hell chooses a name like, Zero?

This guy had a ridiculous list of demands for the meeting, fitting of his equally ridiculous name. Bottled water served at a particular temperature with some high-end energy drinks, and all four different flavours had to be served! One of the flavours hadn’t even been officially released on the market yet! What the fuck kind of request was that? It was almost as if he was setting the agency up to fail him, so that he could use that as leverage to ask for more demands, to appease his ‘disappointment’. Jude remembered thinking that this player, Zero, must be a real egotistical, entitled piece of work.

Turned out, Jude was not wrong.

He came swaggering in to the meeting, bleeding charisma and bullshit, making the women, and a few of the men, thirsty as fuck. He took a drink of the water, and smacked his lips, “This is too cold.”

One of the other junior agents turned to Jude accusingly, “Jude!” He cursed the asshole for not letting it be, for throwing Jude under the bus. His mom was right, they were all vultures and wolves. And Jude was a lamb in the lion’s den.

That’s when Zero finally noticed Jude in the corner of the room, trying to disappear into the wall.

One of his eyebrows quirked up, and what Jude would later come to know as his predatory smirk, appeared. “Jude, is it?”

Before Jude could do more than clear his throat and will his face to subside its burning humiliation, his boss chimed in, “You'll have to excuse the kid, he’s still getting his bearing. That’s Jude, one of our junior agents. Jude Kinkade.” He shot Jude a withering look, which meant that they'd soon be having a discussion about his latest fuck-up.

At his boss's response, Zero's other eyebrow rose, and the smirk opened to bare gleaming white teeth, “Kinkade, as in...?” He had looked like a golden lion, then.

Somehow, somewhere, and to this day, Jude still couldn't be sure from where he got the courage, but he remembered finally speaking, “Yeah, Kinkade, Oscar Kinkade’s son.”

There was no hiding the grin on Zero’s face. It was all teeth, and he was looking directly at Jude. He had never felt a gaze penetrate him as Zero's gaze did that day. His eyes raked over the junior agent, slowly, deliberately, taking Jude in from head to toe. Jude was quite the sight that day, as he stood there in his ill-fitted starched suit, one of the only two that he owned, which he religiously dry-cleaned after each week, spending more on cleaning suits than on food for himself. Zero took it all in, and Jude remembered thinking that he knew. That somehow, Zero could see the game Jude was trying to fake. For the first time, Jude had never felt so visible. And so unnerved. 

Never breaking his gaze from Jude, Zero addressed the room. “Where do I sign?”

Jude remembered the jaws of all the agents hanging open, staring openly between Zero and him.

There was no turning back after that.

Life was about to take a curve that neither of them saw around the bend. Jude's was due to lack of foresight. Zero’s? Well, that, that, you see, was a blind side....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! The boys are back, and I'm feeling inspired by their plot development in S3, so far! 
> 
> Feedback is love!


	2. Thirst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero offers to quench Jude's thirst.

Jude left the meeting with his supervisor, feeling equal parts nervous and excited. A small voice at the back of his head kept repeating, “Do you realize what you just signed yourself up for? Do you?”

He silenced that thought – cowardice, thus far, had not gotten him very far in life. If anything, the one moment he chose to fight against his fear, go against his cowardice, and it led him to this. This moment. He was still trying to wrap his head around it.

Earlier that morning he was an unknown lackey at the agency, trying to track down some random energy drinks for a client meeting. By the end of the afternoon, he single-handedly got Zero to sign on to the agency, and had been assigned to be the Junior Agent and point-person for his agency to represent Zero and Derek Roman...in LA....at the Devil’s Area. In Oscar Kinkade’s very own playground. Just because he got up the courage to make that move – cash in his last name, and, boom, went his obscurity.

Jude Kinkade, Junior Agent.  It vibrated with possibilities. Jude could feel the reverberations to his very bones. And it exhilarated him. It was the same feeling he had when he went to his first Devil’s game, sitting in the nosebleed section, because that’s all that his mom could afford at the time, and that’s the only present he had wanted for his 10th birthday. He remembered seeing the tiny profile of Oscar Kinkade, down by the courtside. The owner of the Devil’s. Even from the distance, in Jude’s eyes, Oscar looked bigger than life. Jude remembered wanting to scream to the arena, ‘That’s my dad! That’s my dad!’

And now he was going to LA. And, that’s where the nerves set in. He hadn’t seen Oscar in 10 years. He doubted Oscar would even recognize him, much less, give him the time of day, if he came face to face with Jude.

That thought was enough to drop him down from his high. Jude knew he was getting ahead of himself. There was just one, not so tiny, hurdle. He had to still get the Devil’s to sign Zero on. Derek Roman was already in LA. He still had to get Zero there. His whole position at the agency, and beyond, depended on securing that deal.

On convincing Oscar Kinkade that signing Zero on to his team would be the best asset for the Devil’s, and that Jude Kinkade would be the added bonus. He came with the deal, after all.

And he didn’t know if Oscar would buy it, whether getting Jude as part of the deal, mattered to him one bit, even a tiny bit. But, the little boy inside him, hoped, desperately hoped, that this chance was what it would take to reunite father with son.

After losing his mother, life had gotten that much smaller, and that much lonelier. If he could prove to Oscar, that he was worthy to be his son, that he could learn everything that Oscar was willing to teach him, even if he missed the other lessons, like learning to play catch, or, learning how to shave, or the other things that boys learned from their fathers, he could at least learn how to be a Kinkade. How to be like Oscar. That dream was one step closer to reality. All that stood between that dream and reality was Zero. Zero was his ticket in.

***

Jude entered the YMCA cautiously, feeling just as out of place as he likely looked. It was packed, with throngs of people, and flashing cameras. He shoved his way to center of the circus, only to catch the tail end of Zero’s speech to the reporters, “……… not just because it’s my Christian duty, but because in the giving, I get so much in return.”  He saw Zero smile, a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes, as he lowered his gaze. Jude guessed that was Zero’s interpretation of humility. To Jude, Zero failed at it miserably. He might have been a damn good basketball player, but an actor, he would never be. At least, not to Jude.

He couldn’t help the involuntary roll of his eyes, as he internally groaned, already dreading having to deal with the likes of that man, just to get to LA. When he looked up, his gaze met Zero’s. _Shit, shit, shit._ He tried to pass off a sympathetic tight-lipped smile, hoping Zero didn’t catch his eye-roll, but all he got was a knowing smirk and a wink in return from the older, blond man.

It left Jude utterly confused, and not just a little scared of finding out exactly who this man, this Zero, was.

Turned out, he didn’t have to wait very long.

***

“Jude, my man, glad you could make it.” Zero approached him, as he clapped him on the bicep, while Jude belatedly held out his hand for a handshake, in the same moment. Zero looked down, and laughing, shook his hand. It was a firm grip, one filled with confidence, and the strength was definitely not coming from Jude’s end.

“Come, they have secured a room for us. Shall give us some privacy…to chat.” It sounded almost filthy, the way Zero said it, but Jude was sure he was just misinterpreting it. Zero seemed like a guy who was always ‘on’, playing whoever he was engaging with. If it sounded like he was flirting, well, Jude chalked it up to the man’s personality. And Jude’s own abysmal lack of experience on the subject.

The pep talk he had given himself, to prepare for this meeting, was already wavering in its intent, as Jude felt more and more of his confidence draining out of him, at each passing moment. First the obscure location, then, the show, then, this…whatever it was that Zero was doing….Jude couldn’t figure out how to get the upper hand, or at least, gain equal footing. And he was faltering, fast.

The bright lights of LA seemed to dim just a bit in the distance.

Zero ushered him through the crowd milling about, trying to catch a last glimpse of the basketball star, as a staff led them through the winding halls of the building until they approached a closed door. Zero opened it with flair, and waved his hand, gesturing for Jude to enter.

A random line buzzed through Jude’s head, _‘Step in to my parlour,’ said the spider to the fly._

He took in the small room, and the table with water and energy drinks. He heard Zero close the door behind him, and in a teasing voice, say, “Go ahead, help yourself to a drink. I made sure it’s the right temperature.”

At that, Jude lost it. He may have been slow on the uptake when it came to a lot of things, if the constant snide remarks from the other agents at the firm were any indication, but it at least taught him, very well, to know when he was being toyed with. And Zero was definitely toying with him. And not just him, but his dream.

With fire finally settling like a breathing volcano in his belly, he whirled around to face the other man, “Listen, I’m not here to play games. I’m here to get to LA. You either want to get to LA, to the Devil’s arena, too, or you don’t. Either we help each other get there, or we don’t. What do you want?”

Jude regretted it, as soon as the words came out. He let his emotions get ahead of him, he let it reveal his whole game plan. And now, now, Zero could use it against him if he so chose. Fuck.

Zero seemed happily taken aback by his outburst. He clapped his hands and rubbed them gleefully, “That’s what I want. That backbone!” The man was certifiably insane. Any other player would have walked out, affronted, cancelling the contract, or at the very least, demanding for a change in agents. No junior agents talked to a star client like that.

Jude could only mumble out an incoherent, “The…wha..?”

Zero ignored his confusion as he sat down across the table from Jude, gesturing to the bottles of water, “Are you sure you are not thirsty? You look like you could use a drink, man.”

Jude returned with a tight-lipped, and more put-together, “No, thank you.”

Zero smirked, “Ah well.” He assessed Jude sitting across from him, measuring him up. Finally, he spoke again, “Oscar’s son, eh?”

Jude blushed at that, “Listen, about that…,” he cleared his throat, “I think I may have given you the wrong impression at the meeting, I…”

“Have no association with Oscar, beyond inheriting his name and a few of his genes. And, thankfully, none of his looks.” Zero finished for him.

Jude gaped at him, “You knew?”

“That a beloved son with a relationship with Oscar Kinkade would not be working as some unknown junior agent, being walked on by half the staff at the agency, and serving incorrect drinks at a meeting? That as soon as a son of Oscar Kinkade could learn to tie a tie, he would be walking alongside daddy dearest, in the halls of the Devil’s area, which you clearly are not?” Zero finished the statement with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. The look softened just a tiny bit, as he said, “Yeah, I knew.”

Jude couldn’t help the wave of humiliation that washed over him. It wasn’t enough that he knew how Oscar rejected him, it turned out, that it was self-evident to the whole world. “Then, why me?” He asked the question, too softly, as if speaking to himself rather than to the man sitting across from him.

“Because you have potential.”

At that, Jude finally looked up to meet Zero’s blue gaze. He realized for the first time, that the other man had quite strikingly blue eyes. They were lazer sharp, and bright.

Zero seemed taken aback for a moment, meeting Jude’s intent gaze. They held on for a second longer than Jude could decipher the meaning of, before he heard Zero shake his head and clear his throat, breaking their gaze. “Do you know about sharks, Jude?”

And, of course, they were back, to Zero’s randomly obscure questions that seemed like they were playing Jude. He chose not to engage.

Zero smiled at his silence, and continued, as if he heard Jude’s response anyway, “Well, you see, the sharks are the top of the food chain. They’re the ones everyone sees coming from a mile away, and stays clear of. Everybody fears those motherfuckers. They know the kind of threat a shark poses. But, you see, all the other fish get so preoccupied looking out for the big, bad, aggressive shark, that they miss the fishes that hang around the sharks. They’re these opportunistic fishes. They stay just under the radar of the sharks, but swim along with the big boys. And, when opportunity strikes, they get their meal. And no one notices them, because they’re too busy looking out for the shark.”

Jude blinked at the National Geographic narrative, unsure of what he was supposed to respond with.

Zero sighed exasperatedly, taking in Jude’s confused expression. “You are not a shark, Jude. If I wanted a shark, there were hundreds of other agents that I would have picked over you. But, you do have the potential to be the fish, who swims with the sharks. Oscar is a shark. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“Yes, I…think so. You want me to be an opportunistic fish.”

At that, Zero laughed. “Oh, you’re perfect. You sure you’re not thirsty yet?” The twinkle was back, and it made Zero’s blue eyes shine, Jude thought. Then he chastised himself for being so easily influenced by the other man, to now be entertaining such random thoughts, himself.

“You got this whole mix of naïve, puppy-dog, trust-me-I-can-do-no-harm thing going on, but you got a fire in you, Jude. And you want it. You want it just as bad as I want it. Don’t you?”  
  
Jude leaned in, suddenly and intently interested. In a hushed tone so as not to break the spell, he asked again, “What do I want? What do you want?”

Zero mirrored him, leaning in across the table, and in the same hushed tone, he whispered, “The same thing. To get to the top.”

Jude let out the weighted breath he didn’t even know he was holding, “Yeah…”

“We can help each other, Jude. You want to get noticed by Oscar so one day you’re there at the top, beside him, managing the Devil’s. I don’t want to get traded to the Devil’s just for a fucking change of scenery. I got no love for LA like that. The only reason I’m going is for the opportunity. I want to be at the top. It’s either the top or nothing. And I need you to help me get there.”

Jude had one burning question, “How?” It came out more forcefully than he intended. He couldn’t help the excitement that originally brought him to this moment, to sitting across from this crazy enigma of a man, called Zero, coming back to the surface. Zero understood. He understood what Jude was after. And Jude was finally seeing the game Zero was after. The room felt heady with excitement, as if extending out of Jude’s body and filling it whole.

“We play. On and off the courts, we play with the sharks.”

Hearing those words did something so unexpected to Jude that he couldn’t hide the gasp he let out. He was rock hard. Underneath the table, hidden behind the wood, and his straining starched dress pants, his cock was fucking hard.

When he met Zero’s gaze, he couldn’t help the furious blush that rose to cover his face. It was as if Zero knew what was happening to him under the table, if the twinkle in Zero’s eyes, and the gleaming teeth of a grin was any indication, then the words that followed confirmed it.

“Thirsty yet?” With that Zero slid a water bottle across the polished table towards Jude.

Like a man walking the desert for miles, Jude grasped the bottle like a lifeline, and popping the cap off, chugged. Only to spit it back out seconds after, his throat burning.

It was pure vodka.

Zero laughed at Jude’s shocked expression. “There are a few rules to this game, kid. Rule # 1. Nothing will be as it appears.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're enjoying it so far. It will be a slow build but I really want to explore my own version of how Zude came to be. Feedback is love.


	3. Witnesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jude makes a choice and it pays off for him.

The last week had left Jude reeling from the punch of reality that had suddenly hit him. It was the kind of sucker punch that hurt, in that way that rushed the adrenaline through the veins, and everything seemed more alive. Pulsating with energy, ready to strike, needing that release.

He had taken the courses, studied about marketing clients, researched how to find that just-perfect endorsement deal for a client, learned how to negotiate contracts, navigate the legal loopholes, the laws involved. And, suddenly, shit just got real. He was going to be applying all that he had thus far only learned about. He had watched others at the firm perform the work, like a well-choreographed dance. Power moves.

Now it was up to him, to take everything he thought he knew and prove it.

All of a sudden, he was representing not one big-named NBA client, but two. Two of the firm’s clients. Derek Roman and Zero…whatever his last name…or first name, was. He didn’t care, as long as both the men’s names got him on Oscar’s radar.

In LA. The thought still blew his mind, if he reflected on that reality too hard. 

The true test was coming, the one that determined whether he had it in him to succeed. Or, whether he failed. Failed the Kinkade name.

 _Yeah, sucker punch to the gut_ , Jude thought, _like releasing thousands of butterflies on speed in there._

Fuck. He was way in over his head.

“Daydreaming already?”

 Jude turned at the sudden interruption to his internal panic, to be faced with one of the other Junior Agents at the firm. His face must have still held a bit of the fleeting panic in him, as his intruder continued, “Is that the game face you’re going with when you get to LA?”

He vaguely remembered him. It was the prick who had laughed at him before, and had asked him what the hell Jude was doing being the firm’s coffee boy and desk jockey as Oscar Kinkade’s son.

“Lucas. What do you want?”

“Wow, already cultivating the big shot LA attitude, I see.” The guy smirked at Jude, “Relax, kid, I’m just a messenger. The boss wants to see you asap. After you read his email. Which you apparently have not yet seen. He called you, and you weren’t picking up. I was sent to summon you. And what do I find? You, busy daydreaming about LA. You know if you’re not up for the job, there are plenty of other candidates.”

“Shit,” Jude cursed as he rushed to fire up his computer while trying to check his phone’s message.

He found the email glaring back at him. “POTENTIAL NIKE ENDORSEMENT FOR DEREK ROMAN. Call me to discuss ASAP. Time-sensitive.” It was sent two hours ago.

Rising up from his desk, his back almost bumped into the Lucas prick, who had been hovering over Jude’s shoulder, reading his email.

“Do you mind?” Jude raised his eyebrows at him as he shut off the monitor.

Lucas held his palms up in reconciliation as he backed away slowly, smiling congenially. “My bad.”

Putting on his suit jacket, Jude rushed to get out of the cubicle, and brushed up against Lucas standing still too close. This time, chest to chest.  Lucas didn’t move away but seemed to press his chest just a fraction closer into Jude’s space.

Jude shook his head and huffed as he ran around the guy. Everyone was always playing games with him. Everyone seemed like they were poised to see him fail.

He heard Lucas at his back, “If you need a helping hand….”

As he made his way to the elevator to take him up to the top floor of his boss’s office, Lucas’ parting words echoed in his ears. He had always written Lucas off as a prick. Kind of the same impression he had about Zero the first time he met him. Which turned out to be not all that true. Zero had a plan. The act was part of that plan.

His thoughts turned to the blond player with the cunning blue eyes, and the still unnerving meeting at the YMCA. Zero called Oscar a shark, but he was a shark himself.

Ever since meeting Zero, it was as if Jude was becoming acutely aware of some of the men around him, and how they were interacting with him.  He had always known about his attraction to men. He just never came across anyone who ever reciprocated his attraction. To be fair, he also never had the balls to act on it. Like going to a gay club or bar - alone. Or going on a website to pick up strangers. Never felt like that was his thing.

So his social life consisted of him, a few bottles of beer, his left hand, and gay porn streaming on his laptop. Of men fucking each other roughly and kissing one another softly. And sometimes, when he was feeling particularly extraverted and adventurous, the fingers of his right hand got involved, along with some lube and his asshole. That’s as far as it went. 

Now, it seemed, all of a sudden, more people knew he was alive, that he even existed, and if he didn’t know better, he’d think some of them were flirting with him. Or, teasing him. Or, whatever it was they were doing….or, or, maybe, it was the first time he was noticing them back. He snorted to himself at such ridiculous daydreams.

Whatever. His love life was the last of his priority. He had to get to LA. Either via Derek Roman, or via Zero, or preferentially, through leveraging the potential of both those clients. And that meant not fucking up the job he just got promoted to do. Tickling his own asshole wasn’t going to pay his rent.

With that last thought, and resolve firmly in place, he opened the door to his boss’s office, ready to conquer the world, or at least…Los Angeles.

***

Fuck it all to hell.

Jude had just gotten off the phone with a representative from Nike who had called him. The Nike Representative seemed to have mistakenly thought that Jude was going to represent Zero for their campaign, not Derek Roman. 

To this day, and for reasons still unknown to Jude, he still couldn’t figure out why he didn’t bother correcting the rep. Especially since his boss had given him clear instructions to make this deal happen for Derek Roman. The man was becoming a legend, as if rising to the status of a roman emperor. He seemed like he was well on his way to dominating the Devil’s team, and delivering it a successful season, thanks to the Emperor himself and his best man, the Impenetrable Wall. Terrance Wall. Legend had it that Wall and Roman were an unstoppable force together: the superpower of the Devil's team.

Nike had gotten wind of Derek’s rising success, and thought he would be a perfect candidate for their upcoming marketing strategy targeted at the NBA crowd.

Tagline: _We are all witnesses_.

They only wanted the rising stars. To make their tagline applicable. And Derek Roman fit just the bill – as he was a sure bet that their tagline would come to fruition. The world was witnessing the making of a King. And Derek Roman was going to be his name. And Nike wanted him just before he reached his glory, so they could tell people, _told you so_. And Jude had just been given the perfect opportunity, as if handed on a golden platter, to be the King’s right hand man, and deliver the deal to Derek Roman.

Except.

He didn't do as instructed. He chose to hand the deal to Zero. Jude had instead called Nike back to ask for a meeting in person. A meeting in which he was left thoroughly as confused as the Nike reps he finally got to meet, face to face. His first wheeling and dealing. And he was confused. Jude knew it was not a promising first start. They thought he was there for Derek Roman. Jude reiterated that their rep had talked to him on the phone about repping his _other_ client, Zero.

In the end, the confusion never did get sorted as to who suggested Zero first, Jude or Nike themselves. But, apparently, Jude had done a damn fucking good job of getting Nike to change its mind, and give the endorsement deal to Jude’s other client, Zero. It was a multi-million dollar gamble, betting on Zero, and Jude hoped to hell that it payed off as he wanted it to.

He remembered thinking back to one of the first conundrums he had had, while still studying to become a Sports Agent. It was in the Law course. It always confused him how it was technically not illegal for an agent to represent two clients, in the same sport, often vying for the same deals and endorsements, and how such blatant conflict of interest was never a forbidden territory, legally. Ethically it boggled his mind, but he eventually made peace with himself that if he was going to become too concerned with the ethics, the world of Sports Agents were not for him.

It was a dirty game. If he wanted to play, he’d have to sell a bit of his soul to the devil. His hands couldn’t stay clean forever. His mother used to always warn him about her distaste for the industry for that very reason. She could never see her sweet innocent Jude turning into one of them. Jude knew different. He knew he had a bit of Oscar in him, and it was time to use that to his advantage.

And it was time to find out whether such Oscar-inspired strategy had worked as planned.

Unfortunately, currently, it looked like it had backfired on him, and epically so. As he stood in front of his boss, getting reamed out for his ‘mistake’ in getting Zero signed over Derek.

Oh yeah, fuck it all to hell.

“What the hell were you thinking, Jude? We talked about this! The first job I give you and you screw it up! After I explained all the points you were going to use to leverage the deal. In detail. Can you explain to me, after such explicit instructions, what exactly went wrong? How the hell did the Nike endorsement end up going to Zero when it was meant for Derek Roman? How?!!

Jude swallowed. It was game time. “I’m sorry. I seriously thought this would be a better move for the firm, and for both the clients!”

His boss looked like he was about to burst a vein as he spoke to Jude slowly as if speaking to an idiot, “Walk me through as if I’m stupid, Jude. I’d love to hear the justification for this!”

“Well, I already got three endorsement deals lined up for Derek. Now, each is not as big as Nike, but together the dollar figures come pretty close. Plus, that’s three companies we got betting on Derek. I know he’s the one to watch out for, and so I put all the stakes on him.” Jude’s boss didn’t look any less unimpressed but he seemed to be considering Jude’s words, so Jude continued, “But… I really do think Zero is a surprising game changer. He’s our newest client. If we don’t give him a warm welcome, especially until we can secure his deal with the Devil’s, he may walk! So, it was a choice between dangling the carrot in front of the newest client, to secure him for the firm, while still getting the other client three endorsement deals. Or.... getting one client, one endorsement deal and the other client none. I chose the obviously favourable odds, sir.”

“Hmm.” That was the only response he got from his boss. He somehow expected something a bit more encouraging than that. Damn it, he had thought it through. He even planned for the explanation he would give that would sell his boss on why Jude went against his explicit orders. And it seemed that his boss wasn’t buying it. _Well, not totally_ , Jude added as an after-thought.

Jude gave one last ditch attempt, “And, besides, Derek doesn’t yet know he was in the running for Nike. All he’ll know is that he got three endorsement deals out of it. I truly did it for the best interest of _both_ the clients,” Jude paused, letting the words sink in and emphasizing his final point, “ _and the firm_ , sir.”

Hearing no rebuttal from his boss, and seeing the edges of his scowl soften, Jude continued, giving the same pitch to his boss that he had given to Nike to convince them to endorse Zero over Derek. “The Nike marketing strategy fits Zero better than it does Derek. The whole, _we are all witnesses_. It promises Zero as a rising star, which can only help him look appealing to the Devil’s. Which helps our case for getting him signed up with them.”

Jude cleared his through before delivering his ace card, “But, sir, what I am really getting at is that it also plays to Zero’s persona. He’s got the whole Christianity, bible-thumping image thing going for him.” He was very conscious of making sure that he delivered those lines as if he believed them himself. A glance at his boss told him that the guy was at least finally starting to buy it.

“The tagline, it plays on the bible quotes, you know, of being witnesses to the Lord or something. I can’t remember, but I’m sure if Zero was here, he’d know the exact quote. You see, Zero’s perfect for it.  He’s  the poster boy for it. Nike bought it. Hook, line and sinker. They were the ones who ended up insisting on Zero, not Derek.”

Jude’s boss said nothing, just sat back down at his desk, and, turning to his computer screen, started rapidly typing away.

Jude didn’t know how to take that. Was his boss writing to his superiors to let him know that he had fired Jude? “Sir? Um, sir? If I did something wrong….”

Jude’s boss gave him a hard look, and then finally nodded a tight-lipped smile, “Get the hell out of my office. And never pull a stunt like that again, without clearing it with me first, you got that? Now get yourself sorted. You head out to LA in a week.”

Jude made sure he contained his grin and suppress the feeling of wanting to shout and scream in pure joy until he was out of the office. Instead he returned a chastised, hesitant smile back at his boss. It was almost frightening how easy it was becoming to play this game. “Thank you, sir, thank you! You won’t regret this. I swear!”

With that, Jude turned tail to get to his cubicle one last time, and clean up his meager belongings. He was going to LA.

But before that, he had one last thing to do. 

He found the name under his contacts. It was the first one on his list. He had listed the man as simply, “0”, not bothering to spell out the word. It meant nothing, yet, it seemed to all of a sudden hold all the possibilities in the world. Without really understanding why his fingers shook, he pressed the button on his phone.

And unknowingly held his breath until he heard the other man’s voice come on the other end, “Jude, my man. How’s it swimming?”

Jude couldn’t help but roll his eyes and give a short chuckle at that. The man was incorrigible at times. “Can you meet me today? I got some news I think you would love to hear.”

***

Zero, as per his trademark walk, came swaggering into the restaurant, his eyes shrouded in dark sunglasses.

Jude once again reached out to shake his hand, and like the last time, it seemed that Zero insisted on foregoing such formalities. However, unlike the last time, where it ended with Jude awkwardly receiving a clap on his bicep, this time Zero curled his fingers into Jude’s outreaching ones, in a joining of fists, as his other arm curved along Jude’s neck, pulling him into a hug. Jude caught a whiff of Zero's undoubtedly expensive cologne, being pressed so close to the blond man. He understood why it was so expensive; it smelled damned good.

“Oh man, oh man, your bossman told me. You got me Nike?! Their new promotional line, too?!! The ‘ _we are all witnesses_ ’ campaign?! Do you know how long I’ve been trying to secure them for my endorsements? This is fucking huge!! Jude, I could kiss you!!”

Jude blushed at that. He was anticipating that Zero would be appreciative, but this was his first time leading an actual deal, and being successful. And finally having a client who was happy with the work he did for them. The novelty of it was a bit overwhelming.

“Well, I figured you were the perfect sell for it. What with their tagline echoing the bible angle, and all.”

“You know your bible?” Zero’s voice held surprise.

Jude blushed deeper. He had stayed up five nights trying to find the perfect angle to pitch Zero to Nike, and researching the shit out of the campaign. Until he came across the connection to the tagline’s words with that of quotes from the bible. It was the perfect fit. He didn’t know the bible but he knew how to find the perfect angle. He turned to Zero and shook his head, “Not really, just did some research….”

Zero finally took off his sunglasses, and his eyes looked like they were bloodshot red. As if the man had been partying all night. He looked less like the good Christian poster boy and more like the symbol of debauchery.  He gave Jude that unnerving look that Jude was slowly getting used to receiving from Zero, the one that seemed to assess him slowly and deliberately, from his head to his toe, “You are my witness, whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand who I am. Before me there was no other, neither shall there be any after me. ”

Those words....

“Umm…” With those words, it seemed like Zero was speaking intimately and directly to Jude. It made Jude feel like his world was titling on its axis, like the first time he met Zero. Leaving Jude confused, once again.

“The quote, it’s from the bible.” Zero clarified.

“Oh…yeah…right. Of course.” Jude shook his head, trying to clear his silly, wandering mind. Of course, it’s the quote from the bible, what else would Zero be saying to him? He vaguely remembered coming across it on his google search. He also seemed to recall that the quote didn’t sound exactly like Zero quoted it. Some parts seemed off. Not his concern. He was not the Bible police.

“Thank you…for making sure it was mine.” Zero continued.

Just the way Zero phrased that statement...it was like the domino pieces finally seemed to fall down perfectly, each one toppling the other in Jude’s mind, until it all clicked. “You set me up!!” The bastard was testing him, his loyalty. As Jude knew he would. Which was the very reason Jude gambled to choose the man over Derek Roman in the first place. Hoping he read Zero's next move right. And he had.

Zero raised an eyebrow quizzically, in a look Jude was sure was aimed to be innocent. But he saw right through that bullshit. He was quickly becoming very good at reading the blond man. It seemed like a necessary skill for an opportunistic fish to be able to learn to read the shark it was swimming with. And, Jude learned his lessons well, and he learned them fast.

“You! It was you or someone you had, that called me that day, pretending to be the rep for Nike, asking me about my client. Not Derek Roman, who the deal was meant for, but you, they mentioned YOU, instead. I thought they made a mistake…couldn't figure out the confusion at first....”

“But you went with it….why?”  
  
“Zero….” Jude tried to explain that if it were not for the seed planted by that mistaken call from the supposed Nike rep, Jude would have most definitely pitched Derek Roman. He was, after all, going to go to LA to represent them both.

“What? I like my name filling your mouth better than Derek Roman’s.”

Jude bit his lip. He tried very hard to read that statement from Zero as literally as possible, and not dig deeper into the layers of possibilities it seemed to insinuate. Like the previous time, Zero could turn a simple statement into the filthiest thing Jude had ever heard. And a little part of him seemed to not mind hearing such things from Zero. Yeah, he needed to get laid once he got settled in LA. This was beyond ridiculous.

“Stop it.” Jude insisted, until a final thought occurred to him, “How did you know I was about to pitch Derek for Nike?”

“Ah, a little birdie told me, and suggested that if I had him as an agent, instead of you, he’d have made sure it was I who got the deal, instead of Roman. But, I had my faith in you, Jude. And you didn’t let me down.”

 _Lucas, the fucking prick_ , was Jude’s first thought. But it didn’t matter in the end. All that mattered was that his strategy worked. He proved to Zero that he could play with the sharks, and get by unnoticed.

With conviction in his voice, he said out loud the thoughts that he had previously purposely chosen to ignore. The thoughts that he had resisted for some unknown reason, leading to many a sleepless nights over whether it was the smart choice; the right choice. He couldn’t deny them now. This gamble secured his position. “I’m Team Zero. I promise that not only me, but everyone is going to witness you taking over the Devil’s. And I’ll be there every step of the way. I will help you get there.”

With a grin that matched his words, Zero exclaimed, “Great, then let us go and introduce a new devil to the City of Angels, my friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed update. As an apology, it's a long chapter! Life's responsibilities can be such a distraction! Ah well, Zude may be off our screens but the summer looks to bring the Zude heat! Can't wait! Feedback is love, as always. :)
> 
> PS - the Nike campaign was a real campaign for NBA stars in 2013.
> 
> PPS - the exact bible quote, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." (Isiah 43:10). I don't know the bible; like Jude, I googled.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! The boys are back, and I'm feeling inspired by their plot development in S3, so far! 
> 
> Feedback is love!


End file.
